In his homily at Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis spoke about those enslaved to money. He criticized those who accumulate money at the expense of the weak.
POPE FRANCIS
“This idolatry starves many people to death. Think of this: there are 200,000 Rohingya children out of 800,000 people in refugee camps. Two hundred thousand children. They hardly ever eat and are malnourished, without medicines. This is also happening today.”
That's why the pope asked Christians to pray for God to touch the hearts of those who worship the “god of money.”
SUMMARY OF POPE'S HOMILY
(Source: Vatican Radio)
It is God who puts a limit to this attachment to money. A man enslaved by money is not a tale invented by Jesus; it is true even today, where many live adoring money. The life of those who accumulate riches for themselves, has no meaning, he said. They don’t know what it means to be rich in God.
Even today, there are these people hungering for money and earthly possessions, people who have a lot compared to the hungry children who lack medicines and education and who are abandoned. This is an an idolatry that kills, that sacrifices human beings. This idolatry starves many people to death. Almost 200,000 Rohingya children out of 800,000 people in refugee camps, who hardly eat and are malnourished, without medicines. This is happening today and not something of Jesus’ time.
In the face of this, the Pope urged for an earnest prayer: “Lord, please touch the hearts of these people who worship God, the God of money. Touch also my heart because so that I don’t fall into that and know how to see.”
Families are divided and end up in hatred, one against the other. At the end of it all, the Lord gently reminds us that the only road to enriching oneself is in the Lord. Wealth is only in God, adding, this does not mean scorning money. No, it is greed, as the Lord says. Living attached to the God of money. This is why our prayer must be strong, seeking in God the solid foundation of our existence.
